Americans Are Back To Relocating For New Jobs

After decreasing steadily since the 1980s and dipping even
further in the recession, the migration rate of Americans between
states has once again shown a rise, according to the latest
Challenger Job Market Index.

Consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that in the
first half of 2011, 9.4% of the newly employed moved to a
different state for their jobs, up from 7.5% in 2010, which was
the lowest number of migrants since the stat was first tracked in
1986.
Says the firm:

One might conclude that the increased relocation in the first
half of the year is due to the fact that prolonged unemployment
is compelling more job seekers to relocate, despite the
challenges of selling a home in this market. At some point, the
job seeker may simply conclude that it is worth taking a loss on
a home sale to get back on the payroll.

The firm also says that, due to better employment rates in some
parts of the country than others, people might have little choice
in where they can look for jobs.

Migration numbers looked much different before the recession,
though. From the first quarter of 2005 through the third quarter
of 2007, 16.1% of those gaining employment relocated for the new
jobs.

Despite this recent bump, overall inter-state migration numbers
have been falling since the '80s and are currently at a
30-year low. To explain the trend, researchers point to the development of telecommunication, the
decreasing occurrence of locations specializing in a few
industries, and even the falling number of Americans choosing to
get married.